Just before leaving Whitehorse for a month and half of guiding on the West Coast Trail, I wanted to head out into the mountains to explore some new places. At the top of my list of places I wanted to explore was the Ruby Range. The Ruby Range mountains are essentially the easterly foothills of the St. Elias Mountains. I was really interested in exploring this place because it’s not in the National Park (no permits required), the mountains are slightly rounder / easier to navigate, and the terrain a little bit more conducive to hiking. On one of the hottest days of this years summer, Emma, her sister Loreena and I had packed our bags and were off to try to get into these mountains
We turned off the highway and after 15 minutes on an old dirt road were blocked by fairly large creek flowing across our path. We scoped out the creek, measured the water depth, and tried to convince ourselves that our vehicle could make it to the other side. Unfortunately, our confidence just wasn’t high enough and the last thing we wanted was to wreck our Nissa Xterra (nicknamed Crossfit Janet) 20km before the start of the hike.
It was pretty disappointing having to turn around, but there wasn’t much else to do.
Pictograph? Graffiti? Glacial scarring?
Luckily, Emma is awesome and within a few minutes had come up with a great alternative plan, Bock’s Lake. Bock’s lake is a little alpine lake nestled at the mountainous gates of Kluane National Park. It’s a bit of a sun exposed grind up Bock’s creek, but once at the lake you’re rewarded with incredible views of Kluane National Park.
We got to the trailhead, strapped our packs to our backs and headed up the creek. For once, there isn’t much to talk about the trip. The hiking was nice, there was no drama, the weather was spectacular, and the views phenomenal. Hard to ask for a nicer three days.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some stories from my fall season. I was lucky enough to get two more backpacking trips in and fly out to Ontario to see some family. I’m also working on a new project that I’m excited to announce soon!
